underplanting rattan in rubber planttions - Kerala Forest Research ...

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K1. INTRODUCTIONerala is one of the largest rubber (Hevea brasiliensis H.B.K. Muell.Arg.)growing states of India. As per scientific planting schedules, rubber growersare advised to plant rubber along the contours especially while planting inslopes and undulating terrains. Hence, in rubber plantations it is not alwaysfeasible to follow a systematic spacing regime between rubber plants or rows.However, there are also plantations with regular spacing in plains, available inthe State. In either case it is a fact that considerable amount of area is leftvacant in rubber plantations, which can be made use of for underplantingspecies like rattan to provide a supplementary income for rubber farmersthrough greater utilization of their land resource.Rattans are fast depleting from the tropical forests on account of lack of propermanagement practices and illegal cutting. Mohamad and Noor (1986) opinedthat planting rattans under rubber plantations could help restock the speciesthat are being depleted in their natural environment. The present project is anattempt to study the feasibility of introducing rattan in rubber plantation as anundercrop.There are inherent problems involved in introducing rattan in rubberplantations. Rattan being a clump-forming, climbing palm, with enormousthorns all over the plant body, unless planted properly and carefully may causeinjury to the rubber tappers who work during the early hours of the day in lowlight. Rattan such as Calamus hookerianus and C. thwaitesii produces massiveclinging stems that may break the branches or even the whole trees to whichthey climb during their growth. Moreover during harvesting rattan culms are cutat the base and are separated from the mother clump by pulling them down.Hence, the strength of the rubber tree to withstand these impacts has to be aprime consideration to be thought of before introducing rattan in rubberplantations.The distribution of single stemmed rattan like C. dransfieldii Renuka and C.vattayila Renuka is restricted and these are not easily available in the forests ofsouthern India. Therefore, it was not possible to get the seeds of these speciesand raise seedlings for underplanting.According to Mohamad and Noor (1986), growing rattan under rubber is aneconomically viable proposition and more than 650 ha area of rubberplantations has already been underplanted with rattans by various agencies inMalaysia. They further pointed out that even if rattan was introduced in rubber1
plantations, it did not have any adverse effect on the latex production. At thesame time there would be increase in productivity of rattan. The versatility ofrattan is that it can be grown easily in a variety of ecological conditions.Lakshmana (1993) points out that the attractive returns from rattan, apart fromimproving the ecology of the area by enhanced production of biomass are theother advantage of introducing rattan in rubber plantations. He cites theexamples of other countries where experiments on growing rattan in bothabandoned rubber plantations and in areas of shifting cultivation were beingundertaken, for consideration.The present project was an attempt to underplant some of the common andmost useful species of Rattan getting depleted in the forests of Kerala. Thespecific objectives of the project were as under:1. To standardize the planting techniques of rattan in rubberplantations.2. To standardize the age of rattan seedlings for underplanting in rubberPlantations.3. To compare the performance of different rattan species in rubberplantation.2
Page 1: KFRI Research Report No. 245 ISSN 0
Page 4 and 5: CONTENTSAbstract ..................
Page 8 and 9: 2. MATERIALS AND METHODS2.1. Study
Page 10 and 11: In the second method of planting, t
Page 12 and 13: Fresh seeds (Fig. 4) always gave hi
Page 14 and 15: Seedlings of 12 to 15 months were f
Page 16: 3.3.2. Height growth of seedlings i
Page 19: 3.3.4. Development of flagellumThe
Page 23: 7. REFERENCESLakshmana, A.C. (1993)

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